Put yourself in the shoes of physical firms and you will realize how daunting it is to create a bespoke shopping experience for customers. While knowing the desires and needs of customers is still a dream for offline store owners, e-commerce owners have been able to achieve this level of personalization with ease, thanks to technology. For a long time, e-commerce businesses selling custom embroidered t-shirts for women have been searching for the holy grail of personalization. Product personalization offers a consistent, cross channel experience that meets customer needs and goals, in real time.

The good news for e-commerce owners, especially print-on-demand firms, is that product personalization has become a reality. However, this is only the one side of the story. Although technology has made product personalization a reality, it's still unclear how to achieve it. To meet the ever-growing demand of customers, online business owners must learn the keys to "e-commerce nirvana”. Before we talk about the benefits or reasons for adopting product personalization, let's explore the new trend.

What is e-commerce personalization and does it work for customers?

At present, customers are more empowered than ever. They expect e-commerce owners to understand and meet their needs and desires. We can safely say customers have shifted from passive to empowered co-creators. Since customers have more information available at their fingertips, satisfying them has become a challenge. To overcome this challenge, firms have learnt the art of product personalization.

Product personalization is nothing new; it's providing a customized shopping experience based on a customer’s buying behavior, demographics and psychographics. But it's just the tip of the iceberg; there is a lot more to product personalization. There are various layers to personalization and by layers, we mean types of personalization.  Some common types of product personalization include:

1. Navigational personalization.
2. Predictive recommendations.
3. Subject line personalization.
4. Personalized content.
5. Dynamic re-marketing.
6. Contextual messaging.

By now you will have understood the basics of personalization. Now let’s talk about the benefits of the popular e-commerce trend.

• Generate more sales: It would not be wrong to say that product personalization not only helps in increasing sales, but also increases customer satisfaction. The more satisfied the customers are, the more positive the word of mouth for the brand. According to a recent study, 36% of consumers prefer buying custom products, like custom printed women’s clothing online. This figure is not surprising as one out of five customers is ready to pay 20% more for a personalized experience. Consumers are shifting from monetary cost to inherent value.

• Increase in profits: In the past, when creating custom products, businesses would stock products in bulk and ultimately had to face the risk of products not selling.  However, now e-commerce owners can collaborate with print-on-demand companies and deliver custom products to customers without the need to store products in a warehouse.  The ease in shipping has resulted in an increase in profit margins.

• Better customer insights: Product personalization gives you a detailed analysis of your customer’s tastes and preferences. When customers purchase personalized products, brands can use this information to offer products based on their past purchases.  So, it's correct to say product personalization helps you to know your customers better and provide products that are better than your competitors.

• Stand out from your competitors: By offering products that reflect your customers’ personality and desires, it will give you an edge over competitors. If given a choice, customers would prefer to shop from a store where they can customize their products. We all love to wear clothes that are one of a kind and know that no one else owns the same product. Product personalization helps to satisfy this demand by offering unique products, helping you to stay ahead of the game.

• A boost to your online store: Over the past few years, offline stores have seen a significant decrease in customer demand. One of the reasons behind it is product personalization. People prefer to buy products online as it’s not only convenient, but they get the opportunity to customize their products. By offering fully customized products online, e-commerce owners can provide a unique shopping experience to their customers, and enjoy an increase in conversion rate.

• Increase in customer loyalty: If customers can personalize products according to their tastes, the result will be an increase in customer loyalty. Product personalization is nothing but an adaption to customer needs at the highest level and hence, the best way to build customer loyalty. By providing personalization options to customers, you will develop long term relationships with them. Once they establish a strong connection with your brand, it will be difficult for competitors to force them to switch.

How to create a well-planned e-commerce personalization strategy?

The heart of personalization is the goal and all must be customer-driven. To create personalized products and ensure customers buy printed clothes for women from your store, answer the following questions.

• Where will personalization occur?

Personalization should occur through all customer channels and touch points. Product recommendations, inspirational content and location-based services can benefit from a personalized experience.

• What information do you need?

To create personalized products, gather customer data. Make use of your CRM, marketing automation and transactional systems. Determine where product personalization will be popular, decide which tools you need and identify gaps in data to fill.

• How to use technology to create personalization?

This step is combines all channels and data to deliver the best user experience. It is the most important question and must be handled with care. As product personalization is already here, it's time to embrace the future of e-commerce personalization. If you are not taking it seriously, you are going to regret it. Make personalization part of your business strategy to enjoy huge returns in the long run.